the Mushy Middle
There is an argument oft posited in politics that if the Left and Right are both opposed to what you’re doing – you must be doing something right. That you have found the sweet spot of policy excellence – betwixt and between the ideological bounds that surround you.
And occasionally, that is the case. But not usually. Usually, if you’ve displeased everyone engaged enough to actually take a strong stand on things, what you’ve made is mush – that only the mushy middle can stomach.
We’re currently witnessing the making of mush in Washington, D.C. – the three un-passable phases of the Obamacare replacement. This is some serious mush-making – because Obamacare itself is just that awful, and We the People have been electing people to get rid of it for now almost a decade. So to leave this many people un-sated – means you ain’t hitting the mark.
Granted, no one on the Left is going to do anything to undo the awfulness – but they’re in the minority (in large part for standing steadfastly by this awfulness). But the replacement’s pronounced mushiness has also lost it large swaths of the Right.
Best move at this point? Pull the plug – and head back to the drawing board.
DC serves for the rest of the country (and the planet) as a reverse barometer – a visual aide for what NOT to do. As is usually the case, too many other governments take all the wrong advice – and run with it.
To wit: New York state. Specifically, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – and his absolutely awful, cronyism-infested “green energy” plan.
It makes zero actual energy sense: “Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a unilateral mass expansion of government – in the name of fighting global warming…oops, I mean climate change: ‘The state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) earlier Monday passed a new set of standards that by 2030 is supposed to ensure that half of New York’s energy needs are met by renewable methods, ranging from solar and wind, as well as hydro and nuclear power.’….As of 2015, New York only generated 11% of its energy via renewables. A tally it has taken them decades – and tens of billions of subsidy dollars – to attain. And now they have mandated a nearly 500% increase – in only fifteen years. Predicated, again, upon energy sources that require massive, ongoing government cash infusions – and in most instances take more energy to produce than they provide.”
It costs state taxpayers a ton of coin: “(T)he Public Service Commission also included a new (energy) tax worth $8 billion.”
That titanic tax take – goes to a Cuomo crony: “(The tax) money will go to plant owner Exelon, a Chicago-based Fortune 100 company with annual revenues of over $34 billion.”
Fabulous mush Cuomo is making. Of course, the state’s Republicans are opposed. But this is New York – and they’re in the minority. More importantly, the state’s Left can smell what the Governor is cooking – and with increasing frequency, they ain’t liking it either.
Democrat state Senator Tony Avella has sponsored S. 4417 – a bill opposing Cuomo’s inanity. Several Democrat state Assemblymen are working in opposition. But it hasn’t stopped there. The un-reconstituted Left is also gearing up.
To wit: Former three-decade-NY-state-assemblyman Richard Brodsky. Who is now “a senior fellow at both Demos and New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.”
For those of you who don’t know, Demos is a radical, whack-job Leftist organization. And as most of you know, New York University is a university – which means it’s a whack-job Leftist organization. So Brodsky is (at least) double-dipping.
Brodsky recently wrote the following – in which he calls on avowed-Communist New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to raise his voice in opposition to Cuomo’s ridiculousness.
Why de Blasio Shouldn’t Tap Out in His Tussle with Cuomo: “The governor is ramming through a huge tax increase that falls largely on New York City, without the city benefiting at all. There are literally billions of dollars at stake, yet the mayor is nowhere to be seen….
“Enter Mayor de Blasio. Or rather, exit Mayor de Blasio. He has said little about the proposal and its impact on his constituents. He’s learned, painfully, the political cost of taking on the governor. Things have not gone well when he mixes it up with Cuomo, be it taxes to pay for pre-K, affordable housing programs, CUNY investigations or homeless programs. The mayor has been regularly beaten up in these disputes, even when he was right. He is now facing a re-election campaign that has the specter of Cuomo haunting it. Will the governor back an opponent? Will he help fund an opponent? Who might he tap? The recent de Blasio response, in the immortal words of boxer Roberto Durán, is ‘No más.’…
“(T)he Cuomo electric tax is just too unfair and too big to be swept under the rug. Four progressive downstate Assembly members including Bronxite Jeffrey Dinowitz, Manhattanite Brian Kavanagh, and suburbanites Amy Paulin and Steve Englebright are shoveling as fast as they can in opposition to the tax.
“But they need the mayor to state the case for his people and to seek changes that make any tax fairer for city ratepayers. As hard as it may be to tangle with Cuomo, the best re-election politics are standing up for what you believe is right and what works for the people whose votes you want.”
So Cuomo has with his “green energy” mush – what DC has with its Obamacare replacement mush. Both ideological sides aligned against it.
So Cuomo should do what DC should do – pull the plug. Except Cuomo’s plan is so bad – he should forget about the heading back to the drawing board part.
Because no amount of reheating will make his mush palatable.
This first appeared in Red State.